A highly serialized mystery thriller, "Hostages," and a Robin Williams comedy on CBS. A futuristic J.J. Abrams cyber-drama, "Almost Human," and Greg Kinnear in a legal drama on Fox. A "Vampire Diaries" spinoff on CW.

And a Michael J. Fox comedy, a John Malkovich pirate drama and Jason Katim's adaptation of "About A Boy," based on the Nick Hornby novel, on NBC. Those were some of the newcomers generating positive buzz as the networks unveiled their TV fall schedules this week.

Returning shows that got a push at the upfronts include "Scandal" (lots of buzz — ABC hopes the ratings will follow), "The Big Bang Theory" and "How I Met Your Mother" (renewed for a final season).

Among the high-profile cancellations: "CSI: NY," "Golden Boy," "Vegas," "The New Normal," "Touch" and "Happy Endings." Also, ABC cut "Dancing with the Stars" to one night a week, and CW moved "The Carrie Diaries" to Fridays.

While talking up the future, the medium will look to the past, finding inspiration in classic characters including Ichabod Crane, Alice in Wonderland, Dracula, Mary, Queen of Scots — and TV's "Ironside."

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It's too soon to make predictions about potential TV hits for fall 2013 — judging anything by the clips presented at the upfront dog-and-pony shows in New York is dangerous business; critics won't have complete pilots to judge for weeks, and even pilots are unreliable (splashy, carefully reworked and expensive) barometers of an entire season's product.

But one positive trend is worth cheering.

At last, the broadcast TV networks are taking a page from competitors in British TV and cable in fashioning "limited-run" or miniseries event programming. The idea that every show should aim to milk a concept for 22 episodes a year for multiple years is giving way to the new economic reality — especially given the various ways people consume content now, sometimes a more contained chunk is better.

FX succeeded with the limited-run format ("American Horror Story"); so did History, scoring stunning ratings for "The Bible" and "Hatfields and McCoys" this season.

And so a slew of limited-run projects are on the slate for fall:

'¢ Fox plans a 12-hour return of "24" with Keifer Sutherland in "24: Live Another Day," and the miniseries thriller "Wayward Pines" from filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense"), starring Matt Damon.
'¢ ABC will offer the Pixar special "Toy Story of Terror." And ABC's "Once Upon a Time" spinoff "Wonderland" is built as a limited series, to run in 13-episode arcs each year.
'¢ NBC plans a limited-run "Dracula" series with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.
'¢ The CBS thriller "Hostages," based on an Israeli format, will run in serialized consecutive episodes, the arc lasting September-January. This summer's "Under the Dome" on CBS, based on the Stephen King novel, is structured similarly.

Robin Williams returns to series television in "The Crazy Ones."

CBS executives stated this week that a key goal for the network in the coming season is "more originals, fewer repeats." Shorter-run series allow the network to do that without burning out the casts and crews of conventional hit series.

So bring on the next batch of cops and cyber-agents, hilarious blended and crazy families, the sudsy and aspirational escapist adventures and unscripted competitions of primetime network TV.

Discerning viewers will set the DVR and plan their downloads. More may seek out compact big-name events that aren't intended to run forever, now that they're liberated from the idea of passive dates with whatever's on the tube.

It's worth noting that, historically, some of the biggest game-changing hits haven't generated much heat at the upfronts. "CSI," which produced an entire franchise, came on the scene quietly, without much advertiser love or critical buzz.

Popular tastes remain unpredictable. The alchemy of comedic and dramatic productions is more art than science, and advertisers still make wild gambles totaling $9 billion on what may click next fall, knowing the bulk of these new shows will fail.

Total domestic TV ad revenues are expected to reach $61 billion this year, according to a Pivotal Research Group industry report. For perspective, that's 20 times as much as ad buyers are spending on Internet video options. CBS in particular likes to say broadcast television can still deliver a mass audience like no other medium.

It faces mounting competition, but network TV remains the center ring at the media circus.